Inspiration, ideas and information to help women build public speaking content, confidence and credibility. Denise Graveline is a Washington, DC-based speaker coach who has coached nearly 200 TEDMED and TEDx speakers--including one of 2016's most popular TED talks. She also has prepared speakers for presentations, testimony, and keynotes. She offers 1:1 coaching and group workshops in public speaking, presentation and media interview skills to both men and women.

Friday, August 3, 2012

The Eloquent Woman Index--and its source, our Famous Speech Friday series--has grown considerably. I introduced the index at the start of 2012 to make it easier for readers to find and use this cache of women's speeches, and it has been gratifying to find that these famous speeches by women now rule the most-read list on this blog. In lieu of a famous speech this Friday, I want to take the time to share with you how the index has grown and all the new options available to you for making use of its contents:

The Eloquent Woman Index now includes 73 famous speeches by women, from historic speeches to the speeches of today. With only a couple of exceptions, most of the list doesn't repeat speakers, so the index represents a diverse range of women. So much for all the people who say they can't find speeches by women.

I'm always interested in your suggestions for new additions to our Famous Speech Friday posts. It helps to keep in mind that we are looking for speeches that are famous--defined in various ways--but that the speakers themselves don't need to be famous. (In many cases, it's the speech that winds up making them famous for the first time.) We look for speeches from corporate executives, government leaders, nonprofit executives, university professors, scientists, engineers, attorneys and more--but also from individuals who might never have given a speech before. I'm equally interested in speakers from the pages of history as I am current-day speakers, and we are aiming for a highly diverse mix of viewpoints, ethnic backgrounds, professions, geographic locations and topics. Every Famous Speech Friday aims to focus on not just a famous speech, but one that addresses women's issues in whole or in part, so that we can not just learn from speakers who are women but think about the issues women face.

We'll resume the series next Friday. In the meantime, please share in the comments your ideas for speakers or speeches you'd like to see, and thanks for reading!